Steerable mechanical walking toy



Aug. 5, 1952 SEBEL 2,605,585 I STEERABLE MECHANICAL WALKING TOY Filed D80. 14, .1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 I NVENTOR Han-y 59b! ATTORNEY Aug. .5, 1952 Q SEBEL 2,605,585

STEERABLE MECHANICAL WALKING TOY Filed Dec. 14, 1948 I 2 SHEET$SHEET 2 IN VENTQR H awry-y Sahel Y ATTORNEY Patentedv Aug. 5, 1952 g UNITED smres PATENTvQEElGE' STEERABLE MECHANICAL W LKING Tor I Harry Sebel, London, England. I 1 v Application December 14, 194.8, Seria1No. 65;15l-

toys and more particularly to a wheeled toy which may be made to move and to be steered 'bya per-- son remote from the toy. An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanical toy in which a toy mounted upon wheels carried upon legs pivoting about a substantially horizontal axis may be made by remote control means to move along under the control of th user and also to be steered by the person operating the toy.

Broadly the invention comprises a wheeled toy which is supported upon four legs pivoting about substantially horizontal axles, means forrocking the legs about their axles, means for preventing the rearward movement of the feet of the legs and for permitting a forward movement, and means for simultaneously rocking said legs about their pivots, said means incorporating a remote control device. I t

In a preferred construction the legs are linked together so that the front and back legs on each side rock towards and away from one another and this movement is alternate and opposite on each side. The linkage for effecting this movement may comprise tie barswhich connect the front less one above its axle andthe other below its axle with tie bars Whichin turn operate on the rear legs one above th axle and" one below the axle. These tie bars are linked together and may be operated by any suitable remote control means such as aBowden cable which permits th linkage to be moved backwards and forwards. Conveniently the linkage may be connected 'to a stationary part of the body or chassis of the toy by a spring which pulls the linkage in one direction, the Bowden cable operating to pull the linkage in the opposite direction.

'To facilitate steering of thetoy wheels having a unidirectional rotation only are mounted upon pindles free to turn about thei axis, these p dles being turned automatically with the rocking of the leg, as the legs rock. The wheels upon the front legs will turn inwardly in their forward position and outwardly in their rear p sition as also will the rear wheels. Thus by op erating the toy to bring the legs from one extent of their rocking to a position mid-way in their swing and by repeating this action the toy may be made to move to the left or to the right .according to the initial position of the legs,

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which,

1 Figure 1 shows a side elevation skeleton fashion of a toy animal constructed in accordance with the present invention,

3Qlaiu1s. (o1. $6 105) Figure 2 shows a plan of thetoy shownin Fleure 1 with he upper part of the body broken away, and r Y: T "11.1 i.

Figure 3 shows a front end view of the toy with thebody portion removed.' i 1 7 7 In the drawings a toy according rto the pres.- ent invention is illustrated in which the body I is represented as a pressing ormouldingfuormed conveniently in two parts and represent'ing a horse. Only the-outline is .shown in the drawings and this but diagrammatically. I

The body supports .onhorizontally placed axles 2, 3, 4 and time irontand back legs respectively. The legs 5, "I, 8 and 9 respectively comprise pressings or mouldings formed in two pieces. Each leg is carried upon a wheel 10 providedwith a'bail The wheel I0 is carried in a wheel'fork l2 which is fixed to'the lower end of a spindle l3 rotatably mounted within the leg moulding. Conveniently the bearings for the spindle l3 may-comprise portions of the inner wall of the leg cut and turned inwards and faperture'd to receive the spindle l3 7 as at, M and I5. The top'of each spindl I3 is turned inwards and'engages an aperture I6 in the body lso that as'e'ach leg is pivoted about its respective axle-fthe spindle and the wheel I0 is caused to rotate to and fro. slot His formed in each leg to allowfree movement of the turned over portion "3 of each spindle lfi. Y

Mounted inside the body'l are two sets of linkages. The first set comprises a V-shaped memb r formed. irom two legs 19 and 20, the outer en s of these legs being t rned outwardlyto ens ge in the leg pressing orimoulding 6 and 1, repectively. These outwardly turned s p ss through arcuate slotsin the body I to allow the v member to be movedto and fro- "The leg l9 engages in an aperture ZI in the le 6 above its axle 2, whereas the turned out .end of he leg 20 engages the leg I in an aperture 22 which is below the axle 3.

The second linkage comprises another v shaped member having limbs 23 and Z4. -The-outer end of the limb 23. isturned out etoen agef through arcuate s ot .2 5 in the body, the rear le pressing ll below-its axle 4, whereas theout- 'wardly turned. end of the limb 14 en ag s the l pressing 8 through a'correspond ns slot inthe bodylabove trian le-5,1 :J

The two linka es are iccnnactecl' centrally 1 in the body conveniently by turning and looping the base 26 of the front linkage over the base 27 of the rear linkage. To the base 26 there is hooked a tension spring 28 the other end of which is secured to a hook 29 anchored in the body I. The base 27 is connected to the wire 30 of a Bowden cable, the sheath 3| of which bears against the tail end of the body I.

The Bowdencableis operatedbya scissor grip 32 so as tofcause the two linkages to move to and fro. This in turn causes the legs 'on each side to rock about their axles so as to move towards and away from one another, the legs being so set that as the pair on one side pivot away,

At the same time, in the to pivot about their spindles [3 so as to turn inwards in their forward position and outwards in their rearward positions;

Provided' the remotetcontrol is operated so. as topivot'the' legsevenly about-their'mid-way position the mechanism will move in a straight line. To cause the mechanism to .turn to the left "or to the right the control is operated'so as to pivot the legs towards and away-from their mid-way position on one side .or other of the aforesaid mid-wayposition'according to which direction it is desired-to steer the toy. V Y

Whilst in the embodiment described the head and tail are shownlin fixed'relation,with the body, these. or otherfiportions of ,thezbody, maybe flexibly or pivotally connected to the body or to the legs seas to efiect a movement on operation ofthet'oy; 1 i 1,

1. 'A steerable w'alkin'g toy, comprising a body, four legs pivoted at their upperlends to said body, fourspindles;each-journaled in a leg and extending longitudinally thereof; -.wheels* rotatably mounted on the lower ends of the spindles, means for preventing reverse rotation; of; said wheels, each spindle having: adjacent its upper end-an arm extending laterally and engaging said body at a fixed point spaced from thepivot of its asso- "oiated jleg so that a swinging movement of the legs causes a rotationof the-spindles and a'corresponding. change -in the direction of,,said wheels, said wheels being supported on the spindles so as-to-be directedlongitudinally of the toy when" the legs are in, the middle position of their swinging stroke, ..'e'ach sai'darm beingv effective when its associated leg 'is forward of said middle position to: direct-the 'wheel toward one side and when'said associated leg is rearward of 1 said middle position to ..direct the wheel toward the other .side, and means operable through a stroke of variable, length for'swinging opposite pairs of wheels alternately forward to cause a forward walking .mo vement of the toy, said means being operable by. limitation of the swinging stroke to, keep eachleg on one side orthe other of its middle position to steer thetoy selectively to right or left duringsaid forward movement 4. e.

2. A steerable walking toy, comprising a body, four legs 'pivoted'at their'upper 'ends*to said body, four spindles, each journaled in a leg and extending longitudinally thereof wheels rotatably mounted on'lthe lower end of the spindles,

means for preventing reverse rotationof. said wheels, each spindle-having adjacent-itsupper end an' arm extending laterally and engaging said body at a fixed pointspaced from' the'pivot of its associated-leg, soithat-a' swinging'n'iovement of the legs causes a rotation of the spindles, and a corresponding change in the direction of said wheels, said wheels being supported on the spindles so as to be directed longitudinally of the toy when the legs are in the middle of their swinging stroke, a linkage connecting said legs so that the diagonally opposite pairs of legs move forward alternately, a spring biasing said linkage to a position wherein one of said diagonally opposite pairs of legs is lmoved forward, and means operable from a remote point for moving said linkage in opposition to said spring so as to swing the other pair of legs forward, said linkage moving means being effective when alternately moved through its full stroke and released to cause a forward walking movement of said toy I the, second half of its -stroke -and released to cause a forward walking movement of the toy alonga path curving to the other side.

3. A steerable walking toy, comprising a body, means for movably supporting said body including atleast one leg pivoted to said body adjacent its upper end, a spindle journaled in said leg and extending longitudinally. thereof, a wheel mounted on the lower end of said spindle for rotation about a horizontal axis, means for preventing reverse rotation of said wheel,- an arm on said spindle adjacent-its upperpend extending laterally and engaging the body at a fixed point spaced from the pivot of the leg, means operable through a stroke of variable length for swinging said leg alternately forward and backwardwith respect to the body to produce a walking movement of the toy, said arm being eifective during .said' swinging of the leg to rotate, the spindle and change the direction of;the .wheel, said wheel being supportedon the spindle "so, as tobe directed forward when the leg is "substantially in the middle. position of its swinging jstroke, said arm beingeffectivewhen the leg is forward of said middle position to. direct the wheelto one side and when the leg is rearward of said 'middle positionto direct the wheel to the other side, so

that by limiting-the strokeof the leg to onev side or the other of saidmiddleposition, the leg may be steered selectively to right or left during said forward movement. l

a HARRY SEBEL.

REFERENCES cusp vJ I V The following references-are of 'recordin the fileof this patent: Y I

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I U Switzerland Dec. 16, 1920 

